The advancement of computer and network systems offer opportunities for automation (e.g., computer driven) of many work processes, including legal tasks such as contract generation and real property closings. However, in many cases, computers and networks have simply expedited the transmission of information without altering the manner in which information depicted or displayed—let alone making the manner of display customizable by a user.
Take for example, the negotiation of a contract. It is currently possible, and in many areas common, for the various parties to the contract, including their legal counsel, to share electronic drafts of the agreement via electronic mail or e-mail. Edits may be made to the electronic document attached to the e-mail and rerouted to the parties for review. Recipients may also print hard copies of such electronic documents for review and editing purposes. While such systems and processes have eliminated the traditional transmission time for contract documents (mailing, faxing, overnight delivery, etc.), the uncontrolled proliferation of electronic documents raises numerous concerns, including: version control, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized modification, and interruptions in an approval process. What's more, a user is not able to easily review the information pertaining to process (e.g., who has reviewed/approved, what changes were made and when, ancillary documentation, etc.)
Currently, a gap exists in data exchange and party/process interfaces between on-line or paper-based origination and on-line or paper-based transaction, particularly real estate closings. It is such interfaces where closing agent and title agent processing, tasks and communications occur, all or many of which are able to be automated as reflected in the co-pending application for “AUTOMATED WORK-FLOW MANAGEMENT AND DOCUMENT GENERATION SYSTEM AND METHOD,” by K. Petito et al., previously incorporated by reference. However, in spite of such advancements, the ability of the information to be displayed dynamically, in a manner that is customizable at an organizational or user level is not believed to be utilized.
The present invention is, accordingly, directed to a system wherein the status and interactive worksheets of a work flow process may be displayed dynamically, and where data, maintained in a database in a manner similar to the work flow data, is used to drive or control the display of such information to a user. In one embodiment described below, the database is maintained on a file server, in a client-server network, which contains archived documents. In one embodiment, the server 30 may actually comprise a plurality of servers, including a web server, database server, and a document archive file server. More specifically, the present invention utilizes database-stored information to control the generation of browser display code, code that in turn is transmitted to a user in a client-server network system, where the user is then able to see and interact through the browser-based user interface. The present invention further contemplates the application of such a system to facilitate a virtual, real property closing or similar legal, financial or accounting services. Although described with respect to a particular embodiment, the present invention is understood to have applications to numerous data-driven work processes and systems intended to provide an interface to such processes.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a system for the automated processing of a property transaction, including a real estate closing process and its attendant documentation, including: a network accessible by a plurality of users involved in the property transaction; a database, accessible via said network, said database allowing controlled access by the plurality of users and storing data related to said client, said database further including at least a first table having embedded rules wherein the rules define a work-flow for the property transaction and at least a second table defining the attributes of a display of information associated with said property transaction; and a web-based user interface that provides access to said database, wherein said user interface is dynamically controlled as a function of the second table. More specifically, the graphical user interface (GUI) is generated by the server side code, by taking the data in the second table and assembling HTML layout and object information, such as INPUT tags. However, aspects of the interface are controlled by other database entities like stored procedures that, depending on various information for the user or the particular transaction file that is open, can alter the graphical user interface from a standard that is stored in the layout table.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for the automated processing of a transaction and its attendant documentation, including: a network accessible by a plurality of users involved in the transaction; a database, accessible via said network, allowing controlled access thereto by the plurality of users and storing data related to said client, said database further including at least a first table having embedded rules wherein the rules define a work-flow for the transaction and at least a second table defining the attributes of a display of information from said database; and a web-based user interface, responsive to information stored in said second table, that provides access to said database, such that the appearance of said user interface is dynamically controlled as a function of the second table.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for dynamically creating a user interface for managing work-flow during the provision of services in a real property transaction, including the steps of: providing a network accessible by a plurality of users involved in the real property transaction; creating a database, accessible via the network, the database allowing controlled access by the plurality of users and storing data related to the client, the database further including at least a first table having embedded rules wherein the rules define a work-flow for the real property transaction and at least a second table defining the attributes of a display of information associated with said real property transaction; and providing access to the database for the plurality of users via a user interface in the nature of a web browser, wherein said user interface is dynamically controlled as a function of the second table.
One aspect of the invention deals with a basic problem of the display of information in a web-based system—where in most cases the format and type of information is pre-defined and cannot be easily changed without a modification of the system software. Moreover, such modifications would then impact other users of the system. This aspect is further based on the discovery of a technique that alleviates this problem. The present invention employs techniques, using data-driven, dynamic presentation code generation to manage and control the display code sent to a browser interface based not only on an update of dynamic data associated with the process or transaction, but also based upon dynamic data used to control the generation of the user interface.
As a result of the present invention, a multi-user system is possible, even one in which multiple users may be interacting from different organizations, wherein presentation data stored within the system itself controls the manner in which the user is able to view and access the process data. Thus, it is entirely possible, with the present invention, to provide a common work-flow process control system where the same engine/server is used to provide the work-flow system to multiple organizations, with the interface customized to the requirements of each organization, and users therein—yet the only modification necessary to the system to accommodate diverse user-interface customizations is a change of data within tables in a database.
The present invention will be described in connection with a preferred embodiment, however, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention to the embodiment described. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.